On a broader level, 90 percent of students attending community college in Bergen and Essex counties and one-third of students who attend Rutgers University must take remedial classes before beginning college-level coursework.

The release of the new graduation rate information came a day after Gov. Chris Christie and acting Department of Education Commissioner Chris Cerf stood before students at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North to tout a revamped high school proficiency testing program.

“We need to make sure that the students we send from New Jersey’s high schools either into the workforce or into higher education are prepared on that first day to sit in that college classroom or to perform the job that a business has asked them to perform,” Christie said.

Students in ninth, 10th and 11th grades will now be subjected to up to 12 end-of-year tests in subjects including language arts, math, science and social studies to earn high school diplomas. What hasn’t been revealed is the standards by which those tests will be judged. The state has a five-year phase-in until the new program will start counting toward graduation.

The continued focus by Christie and Cerf on education is encouraging. Tenure reform, revamped standardized testing and alternatives like charter schools in troubled districts all hold promise. The new program is intended to help identify students falling behind earlier in the process, and that earlier intervention could be crucial.

But the potential for 12 end-of-year tests sounds a bit overwhelming and could easily reinforce a culture of “teaching for the test.”

For troubled districts like Trenton, Asbury Park, Camden, Newark and Paterson, a dozen tests are not needed to know more help is necessary.

The deteriorating conditions at Trenton Central High School require immediate attention. Small repairs announced earlier this year will keep the boilers running and fix a leaky roof, but fall short in addressing the major renovations needed to restore the once-proud school to a proper learning environment.

In that very simple test, New Jersey continues to fail the students of Trenton.